Portable Picnic Roll

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How to Portable Picnic-Utensil Roll

With a few straight seams, a piece of fabric becomes a portable case for picnic cutlery. Unrolled, it doubles as a place mat. We used Japanese hemp yardage with a narrow selvage-to-selvage width (about 17 inches), so the sides didn't need to be hemmed. Other sturdy fabrics will work as well.



Tools and Materials



Square of fabric

Iron and ironing board

Sewing supplies

and sewing machine

Straightedge

Disappearing-ink fabric pen

Napkin and utensils

Twill tape

Portable Picnic-Utensil Roll How-To





1.

Lay fabric with selvage edges on the left and right sides. Fold up the bottom 1/2 inch; press with iron. Then fold up the bottom 5 inches to make a deep pocket; press with iron.



2.

Pin along the left and right sides of pocket. Stitch sides with an 1/8-inch seam allowance.



3.

Using straightedge and fabric pen, draw a few vertical lines on 1 side of pocket, about 1 1/2 inches apart. Leave a space on the other side of pocket wide enough to fit a folded napkin. Stitch along marked lines.



4.

Cut an 18-inch length of twill tape. Tuck 1 end under, and sew it to the right side of fabric at its midpoint.



5.

Fringe the top unfinished edge of fabric by pulling out a few threads.



6.

Insert utensils and napkin into slots. Roll fabric from the left, and tie with twill tape.